Urinary incontinence is a symptom that is relatively widespread among the elderly -- it is estimated that 10-14% of the community living elderly, upwards of 2 million people, are incontinent of urine. Currently there is no information concerning how the incontinent elderly living in the community manage their problem. The goal of this study is to: (1) describe the environment and behavioral contexts in which incontinent people find themselves; (2) explore the responses of other people to incontinence in the elderly; (3) investigate the management strategies used by the incontinent elderly to maintain their lives in the community; and (4) clarify the relationship between informal and formal responses as incontinence comes to be seen as a problem for which professionals need to be consulted. The investigation utilizes two major data collection strategies. The first is a cross-sectional survey of apartment managers and social service providers who work with the community living elderly. This portion of the study will determine: (a) the role urinary incontinence plays relative to other problems in the decisions and actions of those persons who have some control in the lives of the elderly; and (b) the perceptions of the causes of incontinence and the treatment strategies they deem appropriate. The second strategy consists of a six-month longitudinal, modified ethnography of 60 community living incontinent elders and their friends and neighbors. This will document the consequences of Ul for community living elderly and specify the roles of sex and economic level as intervening variables in the relationships among Ul and quality of life, social contacts, professional interventions, and institutionalization. This study has significance for several theoretical questions within the behavioral sciences, including medical anthropology and gerontology, as well as direct applied significance for health services for the elderly.